Ernest edward munro payne



ERNEST EDWARD MUNRO PAYNE,'OF AYLESBURY, AND JOHN PUL MAN AND EDWARD ENGLAND PULLMAN, OF LONDON, ENGLAND; sAID PAYNE ASSIGNOR TO sAiD JOHN PULLMAN AND EDWARD ENGLAND PULLMAN.

PROCESS OF LEATHER MANUFACTURE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 618,722, dated January 31, 1899.

Application filed October 1, 1898. Serial No. 692,432. (No specimens.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, ERNEST EDWARD MUNRO PAYNE, residing at Aylesbury, in the county of Buckingham, and JOHN PULLMAN and EDWARD ENGLAND PULLMAN, residing at London, in the county of Middlesex, England, all subjects of the British Queen, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes of Leather Manufacture; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same. This invention consists in novel improvements in the process of forming leather from skins, furs, hides, pelts, or parts thereof, prepared in certain manners by the action of certain chemicals in various conditions of mixture or chemical combination, or both.

WVe are well aware that in certain processes of leather dressing or manufacture the action of one of the chemicals which we employ in the present invention is Well known'that is to say, formic aldehyde, (OH O,) which it has been proposed to use in such processes; but the present invention consists, essentially, in using the said formic aldehyde, or in some cases other aldehydes, in combination with certain other substances, so as to effect the formation of leather by means of the action of certain compounds of formic aldehyde and of other aldehydes, together with other materials-such as alkaline carbonates, alkaline hydrates, alkaline earths, and other compounds of an alkaline reaction-singly ormixed, upon the fibrous tissue of skins, furs, hides, pelts, or parts thereof, which leather cannot be produced by the action of these aldehydes alone upon the said skins, furs, hides, pelts, or parts thereof. Moreover, certain aldehydes, other than formic aldehyde, in their pure state have not up to the present time been used in the preparation of leather on a commercial or manufacturing scale, and a part of the present invention relates to the use of these aldehydes, other than formic aldehyde, in conjunction with each other or in combination or admix to form an insoluble compound, each one producing a different chemical combination, but at the same time of commercial Value in the production of leather, some being white andothers of other colors, used in substantially the same way as formic aldehyde-that is to say, a solution containing substantially the proportion of aldehydementioned belowand enough sodium carbonate or equivalent compound of alkaline reaction to keep the solution neutral is used.

In carrying out the invention there are many details to be observed in the preparation of the skins, furs, hides, pelts, or parts thereof which are capable of great variations in order to obtain those results which are required for commercial purposes; but we will now proceed to give some few examples in detail of the manner in which the invention may be carried out, adding an outline of its general application in the art of leather dressing or manufacture.

Our invention is also applicable to skins, furs, hides, pelts, or portions thereof which are already in certain states of combination as leather, either partly or completely, or which are intended to be treated by some other known process of leather dressing or dyeing, coloring, &c., such as are known in employ the compound or mixture of formic aldehyde with other substances or their combined action we give the following: We take four hundredweight, or thereabout, of skin, fur, hides, pelts, or portions thereof, prepared in the well-known ways by suitable washing, liming, bating, puring, or drenching, and we treat them in a closed revolving drum containing from one hundred to one hundred and twenty gallons of water (preferably distilled, though ordinary water will suffice) at a temperature of about 100 Fahrenheit. In successive quantities we then add a mixture of formic aldehyde (OII O) in aqueous solution, of thirty per cent. or stronger, and sodium carbonate, (Na OO the mixture being made in about the following proportions and being termed by us dressing liquorz Formic aldehyde, (containing thirty-six per cent. 01-1 0,) about sixteen pounds; sodium carbonate, (eighty per cent. Na CO about thirty-two pounds, and water, (preferably distilled,) a sufliciency-that is to say, from ten to fifteen gallons or even less may be used, so long as enough water to make a perfect solution is used. This solution or dressing liquor is added to the contents of the drum while still revolving in quantities varying from one or more gallons at a time at intervals of fifteen or more minutes, it being essential that the whole be not added at once, in which case the result produced would be not so good commercially. According to the thickness and receptive power of the material operated upon the length of time varies which is required to produce the most perfect results. For light goods from three to six hours are suiiicient and for heavy goods from twelve to forty-eight hours; but we do not confine ourselves to any precise length of time.- WVhen the goods are showing leather to a sufficient extent, we find it advantageous to increase the temperature to about 118 Fahrenheit, a better loosening of the fatty matter contained in the materials operated upon and a more even result being thus obtained. Having obtained the goods in this condition, we find that the sodium carbonate (or other alkali, alkaline carbonate, or alkaline earth) is retained ultimately by the material and if allowed to remain therein would be detrimental to the strength of the finished product. In order to remove this alkali, alkaline carbonate, or alkaline earth, we submit the goods, in a revolving drum or paddle, to the action of any solvent, preferably ammonium sulfate, (NII SO of ninety-five per cent. in the proportion of about sixteen pounds dissolved in about one hundred or one hundred and twenty gallons of water, preferably distilled, at a temperature of about 100 to 120 Fahrenheit. The goods are then withdrawn and inserted, paddled, or drummed and nourished in a so lution of soft soap, ten pounds, (commercial soft soap, containing about sixty-six per cent. potassium soap, we find answers well,) and common salt, or chloride of sodium, ten

'pounds, or in approximate proportion, dissolved in about eighty gallons of water, preferably distilled, for a longer or shorter time, about three hours being found sufiicient for light goods and about six hours for heavy goods. The goods may then be dried forthwith and finished.

Having now described the manner in which the compound or mixture of OH O-(formic aldehyde) with Na GO (sodium carbonate) maybe used and a result produced totally clifferent from that which can be obtained by the use of formic aldehyde alone, we will mention some of the other aldehydes and other chemicals or substances which may be used to obtain other results in combination. In each case we take the molecular weight of the chemicals employed and keep the respective amounts used about chemically proportionate to those already mentioned. Aldehydes: acrolein, (acrylic aldehyde,) (0 11 0;) acetaldehyde, (ordinary aldehyde,) (0 11 0 propionic aldehydes and other aldehydes and their polymers; fixed alkaline carbonates; fixed alkaline hydrates, and fixed weak alkaline compounds, such as saponaceous and other compounds of alkaline constitution. The alkaline earths used are in the state of oxid or 11ydrate-for example, OaO, (oxid of calcium;) Oa.2, (l'-IO,) (hydrate of calcium MgO, (oxid of magnesium Mg.2, (10,) (hydrate of magnesiuu1,) and other suitable salts, or these salts produced within the material itself by metathesis, such as magnesium hydrate, (Mg.2 (HO) produced by the action of NaNo (caustic soda) upon MgGl (magnesium chlorid.

Having fullydescribed our invention, what we desire to claim and secure by Letters Patent is- 1. The process of manufacturing leather, which consists in subjecting hides or skins to the action of a solution containing formic aldehyde orits equivalent, and-a compound of an alkaline reaction, substantially as described.

2. The process of manufacturing leather, which consists in agitating hides or skins in water and adding thereto successive portions of a solution containing formic aldehyde or its equivalent, and a compound of alkaline reaction, substantially as described.

3. The process of manufacturing leather, which consists .in agitating hides or skinsin warm water, adding successive portionsof a solution containing formic aldehyde and a compound of alkaline reaction and heating the liquid in which the hides or skins are immersed at or near the close of the tanning operation, substantially as described.

4. The processof manufacturing leather, which consists in subjecting hides or skins to the action of a solution containing formic aldehyde or its equivalent, and a compound of alkaline reaction, and at the close of the tanning operation removing the excess of said solution from the hides or skins, substantially as described.

5. The process of manufacturing leather, which consists in subjecting hides or skins to the action of a solution containing formic aldehyde and a compound of alkaline reaction, heating the liquid to WhlClhthG skins are subjected at or near the close of the tanning operation, and removing the excess of the tanning solution by agitating the hides or skins in a solution of ammonium sulfate, substantially as described.

6. The process of manufacturing leather, which consists in subjecting hides or skins to the action of a solution containing formic aldehyde and sodium carbonate, substantially as described.

7. The process of manufacturing leather;

which consists in agitating hides or skins in Warm Water and adding thereto successive portions of a solution containing formic alde- ERNEST EDWARD MUNRO PAYNE. JNo. PULLMAN. EDWARD ENGLAND PULLMAN.

Witnesses:

L. WENGER, WALTER ERNEST Swiss. 

